On Wednesday, Francis Fukuyama was presented with the Excellence in Public Diplomacy Award by the Center on Public Diplomacy in Annenberg Hall. In his subsequent talk, Fukuyama expanded on ideas relating to identity and trust in our modern cultural and political atmosphere, touching on the 2024 election of President Donald Trump, the internal polarization of American politics and the innate human desire to be recognized. 

Fukuyama, famed for his 1992 book, “The End of History and the Last Man,” gave a talk at Annenberg Hall titled “Navigating Identity and Trust in 2025,” hosted by interim director of the CPD, Julie Duhaut-Bedos. Based on two of his most celebrated works, the talk focused on themes he has written on and how they can be explored in a present-day context.

“All students in international relations, in public diplomacy, in political science, have studied Dr. Fukuyama’s books, and so it’s a real honor to have him,” Duhat-Bedos said. “It’s an honor that he accepted this award, and to have him today at Annenberg School [for Communication and Journalism].”

In his 2018 book “Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment,” Fukuyama references the concept of self-actualization termed in psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in which one’s potential is fully realized after more basic needs have been fulfilled. 

Fukuyama argues in “Identity” that the “conviction concerning the dignity of every human personality has long been part of our nation’s moral and religious heritage.”

At the same time, according to Fukuyama, modern nation-states need to have a cohesive identity by which citizens can rally behind. 

“Every society needs to have a national identity,” Fukuyama said during his talk. “But then you have to reconcile that need for national identity with liberalism, because liberalism begins with a premise that all human beings have rights, that those rights need to be respected.” 

In 1995, Fukuyama wrote the book “Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity,” in which he argues a nation’s social unity depends on its economic strength. He expanded on his notion of trust and how it relates to social dynamics during his conversation with Duhaut-Bedos. 

“Trust is, as I understood it, a reflection of the ability of people to cooperate socially, based on informal norms about keeping commitments, about policy, about fair dealing with other people,” Fukuyama said. “Trust is a kind of lubricant for both a market economy and a democracy.”

Fukuyama said in the 30 years since he wrote that the United States is a high-trust society, trust has been eroded in American society. 

“[It’s] all gone to hell,” Fukuyama said. “Americans do not trust each other any longer because of the polarization, and they never trust the government.”

The mission of CPD is “to [enrich] the study and practice of public diplomacy in pursuit of a more peaceful and prosperous world,” according to its website. Duhaut-Bedos said that CPD decided to bestow the Excellence in Public Diplomacy award to Fukuyama because of his work exploring trust in international relations.  

“The Excellence in Public Diplomacy Award is one of our signature awards … This one is really for outstanding experts in public diplomacy, in international relations, and global influence. Considering the work of Dr. Fukuyama over the years, we thought that he was the right person to pay tribute to,” Duhaut-Bedos said. 

As USC’s forum for research and training in diplomacy, Duhat-Bedos said the CPD needed to recognize leaders in public diplomacy and was especially excited to host an expert whose work was so foundational for USC students. 

Katherine Ding, a second year master’s student studying public administration who attended the event, said she is a fan of Fukuyama’s work and values the contribution he has made to political science. 

“I think it is really important to have a dialogue like this to talk about what we can do as the younger generation, and what it means for public diplomacy in current days,” Ding said. 

During Fukuyama’s talk, he said that the premise of liberalism contained in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal is being challenged by groups that don’t want to be generic human beings but want to be recognized for a particular religion, ethnicity or national tradition. 

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Fukuyama discussed the significance of universities and the role of religion in the history of the U.S. 

“All educational institutions are designed to provide basically a public good, which is educated people,” Fukuyama said. “Many of the greatest universities in the country, Harvard, Yale, so forth, were actually started by ministers and by people that thought that there was also a role for religion and public life that’s kind of disappeared in more recent decades.”

Some of these concepts are enshrined on campus with inscriptions on the Youth Triumphant fountain at the center of Alumni Park, namely “the four cornerstones of American democracy: Community, Church, Home, and School,” though Fukuyama said it was interesting that the fountain leaves out “government.”

“I would agree that you have to have a kind of vibrant civil society. You have to have a healthy family life. The nurturing of students doesn’t just happen in big institutions. It happens in homes,” Fukuyama said. “I think that’s a reasonable description, not complete, but it’s certainly reasonable.”